Post-Secondary News Digest for November 3, 2009
Canada
Canadian woman studying in U.S. missing:
(CBC) A woman from Brandon, Man., who is attending college in North Dakota, is missing. Ashley Neufeld, 21, was last seen with two teammates from her Dickinson State College softball team. Search crews are looking for the three teammates who were driving when they called for help. Their cellphone cut out before they could be located.
U of T sessional faculty ready to strike:
(Maclean's) University of Toronto sessional faculty members are ready to strike on Nov. 9 over the issues of improved wages and job security. If the strike occurs, the university will cancel about 30 per cent of the classes its offers. Sessional faculty typically hold PhDs, yet they only make $2.25 more per course than a graduate student with no PhD or teaching experience.
Anti-abortion group avoids charges:
(CBC) An anti-abortion group based at the University of Calgary has avoided trespassing charges. Members of Campus Pro-Life were charged for a poster display on campus that depicted abortion in the same light as the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. University officials attempted to get the group to take down their posters and the protesters did not comply, causing the university to take legal action.
U of A physics professor wins award:
(Express News – University of Alberta) A University of Alberta physicist has won the Killam Professorship that recognizes success in teaching and research at the university. The award includes $3,500 and a commemorative scroll. Professor Don Page does his work in the field of quantum cosmology that looks at the Big Bang and black holes. Page has collaborated with Stephen Hawking in a number of projects throughout his career.
U of T ranked best Canadian university:
(CNW Newswire) The University of Toronto has been ranked 27th in an international university report that grades quality of education and research performance. Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s annual Academic Ranking of World Universities assessed 1,200 universities from around the world.
University quarterbacks ignored at pro level:
(Globe and Mail) Two Canadian university quarterbacks broke the all-time career passing records for Canadian university football over the last two weekends. But Canadian quarterbacks are still ignored by the Canadian Football League. Danny Brannagan of Queen’s University and Michael Faulds of the University of Western Ontario, who are both standouts at the Canadian university level, will most likely work regular jobs after their university football careers, illustrating the trend in Canadian sports.
Lake bottom shows climate change:
(The Gateway - University of Alberta) Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered how humans have affected climate change through the analysis of lake bottoms. Researcher Alexander Wolfe and his team study sediment layers that date back 200,000 years from lakes located around Baffin Island in Nunavut. They discovered that some lakes that had previously been undisturbed over the past 200,000 years have recently been disturbed over the past 100 years, indicating that global warming is affecting the normal course of nature.
U.S.
Former Education Department official pleads guilty:
(Inside Higher Ed) A former general manager the U.S. Education Department’s student-aid office has pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest and false-statement charges over stock ownership in a student loan company. Prosecutors say Matteo Fontana held 10,500 shares in Education Lending Group Inc. when he became an employee in 2002. Then in 2004 and 2005 he sold his shares for $219,000. Fontana helped Education Lending get approval for an expansion of its business while he owned shares worth more than $15,000. He agreed to plead guilty to a sentence that would include a fine of about $100,000.
Economy has W.Va. students choosing community college over university:
(Daily Mail) Enrolment at West Virginia’s community and technical colleges has increased 28 per cent over last year. “Typically when the economy dips, community college enrolment increases. Tuition rates are lower,” says Jim Skidmore, chancellor of the West Virginia Community and Technical College System. Unlike four-year colleges, he says, two-year community colleges give students shelter from a shaky economy with a smaller financial commitment.
U. of Mississippi changes fight song to more welcoming version:
(Inside Higher Ed) At the end of the University of Mississippi’s fight song, the crowd chants “The South will rise again.” The chant, which began before racial integration, is a tradition that Chancellor Dan Jones says people may find offensive because of its racial connotations. “The University of Mississippi is a warm and welcoming place. So many have worked hard to make sure our image moves forward, and we don’t want anything to hurt that,” he says. If the chant doesn’t stop, the song will not be played at football games.
Second anti-gay student attack at Georgetown this week:
(Fox News) A gay Georgetown University student was beaten Halloween night to the point where he had to be hospitalized. This is the second time a gay Georgetown student has been beaten this week. Last Tuesday, a female student wearing a T-shirt supporting gay rights, was attacked by two men. Another Georgetown student immediately organized a flash protest. An alert went out on campus to give students a warning.
Chicago student killed at Halloween party:
(Sun Times) An argument at a Halloween party resulted in one death and one injury. Francisco Valencia, 21, was killed in the incident and a 21-year-old woman was hurt, but is now in stable condition. Police believe the argument began between people at the party and an uninvited guest. No one is currently in custody but police say witnesses are co-operating and the investigation is progressing.
Private colleges feeling economic downturn:
(Inside Higher Ed) A higher percentage of private colleges expect tuition and fee revenues to decline this year, according to a survey released Nov. 3 by Moody’s Investors Service. Nearly 30 per cent of 100 private colleges say their revenue will decrease. Fewer than 10 per cent of those surveyed had recorded decreases in recent years. The results indicate that private colleges have taken a financial hit even though undergraduate enrollment actually increased on most campuses.
World
Chinese teacher kills himself, alleges treachery:
(The Telegraph) A young academic at the prestigious Zhejiang University near Shanghai, threw himself from the top floor of one of the university buildings after complaining of. “cruelty, treachery, and apathy” in Chinese academia. In his six-page suicide note Tu Xuxin claimed he had been lured back to Zhejiang on the basis that the university was offering him a position. When he went back to the university, the salary he was promised was not being delivered, he said.
No export-control for Russian profs:
(New York Times) Humanities and social sciences professors at St. Petersburg University will not have to submit their research to export-control screenings before publishing overseas. Many were outraged when the university announced it would screen copies of research to be published abroad to see if it was threatening national security. The university revised its statement late last week, saying it only applies to research in non-military technology that could potentially be used for military purposes.
Infrastructure spending cuts anger Australian universities:
(The Australian) Australian universities condemned the federal government's decision to pull $195 million of promised infrastructure funding from the higher education sector Nov. 2. The Australian government is cutting its stimulus spending, including the originally promised $536 million to universities. The organization representing Australian univerisities said federal spending on education is crucial to the country’s future.
Israel boycott fight moves to Norway:
(Jerusalem Post) Norway's second-largest university is set to call for a boycott of Israeli universities to protest what it says is “a policy of oppression” against Palestinians. Academics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, have put forward a motion at the university’s next board of governors meeting. Signatories "believe that an academic boycott can make the seriousness of the present situation clearer to academics and others in Israel."